Ebony Reed Discusses Her New Book Fifteen Cents on the Dollar

EVENT OVERVIEW: Ebony Reed will be in conversation with KC Star columnist, Vahe Gregorian, for her new book, Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at 7:00 PM at The Unity Temple on The Plaza.

TICKETS AVAILABLE ON EVENTBRITE: Ebony Reed Event Tickets

ABOUT THE NEW BOOK: Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap

A sweeping, deeply researched narrative history of Black wealth and the economic discrimination embedded in America’s financial system through public and private actions that created today’s Black-white wealth gap.

The early 2020s will long be known as a period of racial reflection. In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, Americans of all backgrounds joined together in historic demonstrations in the streets, discussions in the workplace, and conversations at home about the financial gaps that remain between white and Black Americans. This deeply investigated book follows the lives of seven Black Americans of different economic levels, ages and professions during the three years following this period of racial reckoning.

Drawing on intimate interviews with these individuals—three of whom are well known and four of whom most readers will learn about for the first time in the book—the authors bring data, research and history to life. Fifteen Cents on the Dollar shows the scores of set-backs that have held the Black-white wealth gap in place—from enslavement to redlining to banking discrimination—and ultimately, the set-backs that occurred in the mid-2020s as the push for racial equity became a polarized political debate.

Fifteen Cents on the Dollar is a comprehensive, deeply human look at Black-white wealth-gap history, told through the lives Black Americans as well as through the development of a new bank intended to help close the Black-white wealth gap. Seasoned journalist-academics Louise Story and Ebony Reedprovide crucial insights on American economic equity, Black business ownership, and political and business practices that leave Black Americans behind. In chronicling how these staggering injustices came to be, they show how and why so little progress on the wealth gap has been made and provide insights Americans should consider if they want lasting change.

Praise:

"Fifteen Cents on the Dollar is a compelling exploration of America's racial wealth divide with an exceptional blend of rigorous data and profound human emotion. At a moment when discussions about inequality are vital, this book offers a journey that engages the mind and the heart. Whether in the boardroom, within our communities, or around the dinner table, these insights offer a more nuanced, informed, and empathetic perspective on personal and professional growth, and how we can do better." — Charles Duhigg, New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Supercommunicators

"Fifteen Cents on the Dollar is a brilliant and disturbing book that exposes and explains the pernicious nexus between the American economic system and American racism. It should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand the persistence of the wealth gap in our nation." — Jill Abramson, author of The Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts, and former executive editor of The New York Times

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ebony Reed began her career as a reporter at the Plain Dealer, covering Cleveland public schools, documenting public education’s inequities. The Investigative Reporters & Editors Association honored her examination of how social promotion impacted the district’s majority Black and brown students when teachers promoted students to the next grade, although they had not met state academic standards. At the Detroit News, she managed the local coverage of the 2008 financial crisis that crushed many families and had a lasting impact on Black families. In Boston, Ebony was a deputy bureau chief overseeing the regional operation in the six New England states. Ebony, now the Chief Strategy Officer at The Marshall Project, has held other roles in newsroom, administration and business operations with the Boston Business Journal, NPR’s Planet Money and the Wall Street Journal. She’s taught journalism and media classes at more than a half dozen colleges and universities. At the Yale School of Management, Ebony codesigned and co-teaches an MBA class. She’s also a board member of United WE, formerly named the Women’s Foundation of Kansas City, and resides in Kansas City, Missouri. Ebony has a bachelor degree in journalism, minor in Black studies and M.A. in media management from the Missouri School of Journalism.

ABOUT VAHE GREGORIAN: Vahe Gregorian has been a sports columnist for The Kansas City Star since 2013 after 25 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He has covered a wide spectrum of sports, including 10 Olympics. Vahe was an English major at the University of Pennsylvania and earned his master’s degree at Mizzou.

EVENT DATE & TIME: Wednesday, June 26, 2024, at 7:00 PM

EVENT LOCATION: Unity Temple on The Plaza, Sanctuary, 707 W. 47th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64112

ADMISSION PACKAGE: $36.00 (plus Eventbrite Ticket Fee) includes 1 Hardcover of Fifteen Cents on the Dollar, 1 Admission Reservation, and 1 Guest Admission Reservation. General Admission Seating.

EVENT FORMAT: Ebony Reed will be in discussion with KC Star columnist Vahe Gregorian for her new book Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap. The discussion will last approximately one hour.

PLEASE NOTE: Patrons will receive their autographed books as they arrive at this event.

DISCLAIMER: All author event sales are final and non-refundable. Eventbrite ticket fees are non-refundable.